3 plead guilty to $5.4M Medicare fraud

The U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday three Detroit-area clinic owners have pleaded guilty to defrauding Medicare of $5.4 million. "Karina Hernandez, 28, Marieva Briceno, 46, and Henry Briceno, 58, all of Miami, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Tarnow in the Eastern District of Michigan to one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud," the Justice Department said in a joint release with the FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services. The pair admitted hiring recruiters to pay bribes to Medicare beneficiaries and using that information to bill for medically unnecessary tests and treatments.